How Get Ready Could Have Been A Really Great Album — Forum Archive

21 Nov 2005, 10:51

So Get Ready the New Order 2001 comeback album was pretty mixed, some great songs but some dodgy ones to, but some of the B-sides and related material from that time are great I think. So here's my suggestion for making Get Ready one of the best New Order albums

Here To Stay (What a great comeback CD opener that would have made and I know it wasn't finished by the time they released Get Ready, but if only they'd waited that little bit longer.)
Player In The League (Was a B-side, Great song, sure it's a bit like Electronic, but Hooky's bass is there to make it a certifiable New Order song. It has a great chorus and ending too.)
Turn My Way (I think this is a New Order classic, don't care what some people think about Billy Corgan, I think this really works)
Vicious Streak (Great song, like a follow up to Thieves Like Us)
Primitive Motion (Not a classic, but it's got some great Joy Divisiony bass and a catchy chorus and kinda rocks towards the end.
Slow Jam (I really like this song, it rocks and shows those idiots Oasis what real Manchester guitar music should be like.)
Sabotage (Another b-side which is in a similar vein to Player in The League, great chorus and ending too.)
Behind Closed Doors (A great b-side which reminds me of Brotherhood era New Order)
Crystal (That backing singer really annoys me, all that hey ooh stuff sucks, but this song still rocks but not as good an opener as Here To Stay, still deserves to be on the album though. Second last song is a good place for it I think.
Run Wild (Despite some cheesey lyrics and that annoying backing singer, this remains a great song to end the album)

So there you have it, this would have made Get Ready a real classic New Order album, not quite Technique, but certainly up there with it somewhere and a whole lot better than Waiting For The Sirens Call which despite a couple of great moments is a bit disappointing really.

As for the songs which don't make it on to my Get Ready here's what I have to say.

60 Miles and Hour - Never got into this song, I think it's quite bland, with a boring chorus. Should have been a b-side and certainly NOT a single.

Rock The Shack - This song is ok, it does rock a bit, but it just doesn't suit this album I think, besides what the hell is Bobby Gillespie doing on a New Order album? The guy makes Bernard sound like Pavarotti....maybe that's the point!

Someone Like You - has a great intro but then the verses are just bland and the chorus while catchy has that annoying backing singer again, it's an ok song, lyrics are terrible though, would have made a good b-side.

Close Range - This song has it's moments, but don't think it's strong enough to get on the album, definite b-side.

So why the hell were those really good b-sides not on the original album?

Anyway I've reprogrammed the playing order on my iRiver (yes they're much better than iPods) so this is how I listen to the New Order comeback, what do the rest of you think. I am clearly insane or spot on with this? I'd guess that those of you who disagree with me probably think Jetstream is the greatest New Order song since True Faith, but we can't all have good musical taste now can we?!

21 Nov 2005, 11:18

That crap backing singer has a name you know

21 Nov 2005, 11:23

Uncle Liam wrote: That crap backing singer has a name you know

Crappy McCrapperson :evil4:

21 Nov 2005, 11:39

I much prefer 'Get Ready' to 'Technique'.

Each to their own, I suppose!

21 Nov 2005, 11:43

My take on your comments, I made my own Get Ready playlist on my iPod as well.

David Flynn wrote:

Here To Stay (What a great comeback CD opener that would have made and I know it wasn't finished by the time they released Get Ready, but if only they'd waited that little bit longer.)

Here To Stay is a good single but not strong enough to replace Crystal as an opener. There's a reason why the band themselves open gigs with Crystal, over the past 4 years I think most fans would agree it's reached the rank of 'classic opener'. The ambient intro decending into loud drums and guitars is class. I put HTS towards the end of my GR playlist.

Primitive Motion (Not a classic, but it's got some great Joy Divisiony bass and a catchy chorus and kinda rocks towards the end.

Slow Jam (I really like this song, it rocks and shows those idiots Oasis what real Manchester guitar music should be like.)

Couldn't disagree more, Primitive Notion is a Joy Division-esque classic. It's probably the track I revisit most on Get Ready except Crystal, it's got a mammoth instrumental ending after the last vocal; fantastic drumming and electros/guitars.

Slow Jam's sluggish and tuneless, I'd remove it from the album completely and consign it to a vinyl only b-side! Loud guitars and 'rawking' does not equal a good or memorable tune.

Run Wild (Despite some cheesey lyrics and that annoying backing singer, this remains a great song to end the album)

It's a small note, but I replace the album mix of Run Wild with the Steve Osborne mix from the Retro bonus disc. It's got an ambient intro and just sounds like a better mix to my ears.

60 Miles and Hour - Never got into this song, I think it's quite bland, with a boring chorus. Should have been a b-side and certainly NOT a single.

Rock The Shack - This song is ok, it does rock a bit, but it just doesn't suit this album I think, besides what the hell is Bobby Gillespie doing on a New Order album? The guy makes Bernard sound like Pavarotti....maybe that's the point!

Both these songs are rubbish, never liked them. The Radio edit of 60 MPH is passable though.

Someone Like You - has a great intro but then the verses are just bland and the chorus while catchy has that annoying backing singer again, it's an ok song, lyrics are terrible though, would have made a good b-side.

I always thought of Someone Like You as the single they should've released instead of 60 MPH. It had great pop potential as a classic New Order single but the album version can sound a little flat, especially the drumming. There are a load of great SLY remixes including the Gabriel + Dresden effort which is ace I certainly wouldn't remove SLY from Get Ready, revamp it slightly maybe.

Close Range - This song has it's moments, but don't think it's strong enough to get on the album, definite b-side.

Yeah, agree with that, not that memorable.

Anyway I've reprogrammed the playing order on my iRiver (yes they're much better than iPods)

Yeah right! :laugh:

Cheers.

21 Nov 2005, 12:10

Yes that backing singer has a name, Dawn Zee, but I dislike her contributions so much I'd rather just call her 'that backing singer!' It is a way of enforcing my point.

21 Nov 2005, 12:46

I pretty much agree with this guy. I would have also accepted had Turn My Way / Here to Stay just been released as a single and 'Get Ready' never been made.

21 Nov 2005, 13:10

I agree that Turn My Way is a classic.Not normally a fan of Corgan but his voice fits well in the song.

21 Nov 2005, 14:51

Get Ready already is a classic album. Nuff said.

22 Nov 2005, 04:28

With Here to Stay it would have been a masterpiece

22 Nov 2005, 05:12

The backing singer on Crystal IS Barney Sumner. You muppet! :banghead:

22 Nov 2005, 05:37

I don't think you could make Get Ready a classic, now matter how hard you try. It just hasn't got the material. I think there's only one stand-out track from all the afore-mentioned - Crystal - whereas albums like Power and Low-Life have three, maybe four stonewall New Order classics on each.

22 Nov 2005, 05:54

Get Ready would have been a great EP. Unfortunately they put too many average songs on it and left out two or three good ones.

22 Nov 2005, 06:30

oldmonkey wrote: Get Ready would have been a great EP. Unfortunately they put too many average songs on it and left out two or three good ones.

I agree with that... In my opinion, it is because of CD format... Look : low-life 8 songs Brotherhood & Technique : 9 songs

Republic, at least two songs could have been left apart... Get Ready... at least three songs...

22 Nov 2005, 08:16

NO Regret wrote: The backing singer on Crystal IS Barney Sumner. You muppet!

I hope you are being ironic here! if not and you actually do think all the vocals on this track are by Barney/Bernard please explain how Barney/Bernard manages to hit all those very feminine notes that appear in the intro and subsequently, this is certainly NOT Mr. Sumner singing, you complete muppet. :nono:

Incidentally I presume you aren't actually that thick and are just trying to say that Dawn Zee is a better singer than Barney/Bernard, well if you think that then I think you should be listening to Mariah Carey and not New Order!.

22 Nov 2005, 08:16

NO Regret wrote: The backing singer on Crystal IS Barney Sumner. You muppet!

I hope you are being ironic here! if not and you actually do think all the vocals on this track are by Barney/Bernard please explain how Barney/Bernard manages to hit all those very feminine notes that appear in the intro and subsequently, this is certainly NOT Mr. Sumner singing, you complete muppet. :nono:

Incidentally I presume you aren't actually that thick and are just trying to say that Dawn Zee is a better singer than Barney/Bernard, well if you think that then I think you should be listening to Mariah Carey and not New Order!.

22 Nov 2005, 10:16

She is technically more talented though. It's a matter of taste whether you like her style or not, but to say Barney is solely skill-wise a GREAT singer (he's good but not.. amazing) is silliness.

Plus if you think the only difference between Mariah Carey and New Order are the vocals I think you're the one with issues!

22 Nov 2005, 10:49

DaveyMcDave wrote: She is technically more talented though. It's a matter of taste whether you like her style or not, but to say Barney is solely skill-wise a GREAT singer (he's good but not.. amazing) is silliness.

Plus if you think the only difference between Mariah Carey and New Order are the vocals I think you're the one with issues!

You obviously don't get the point of what I'm saying. I like New Order for many reasons, but one of them is the relaxed quality of Barney's vocals, of course he is not a technically skilled singer but at his best his voice has more genuine 'soul' than most technically gifted singers.

I could list off the many, many technically gifted singers I enjoy listening to but there's not much point in doing that now is there because the question is whether that style of singing works with New Order and I don't think it does. Soul singing can be wonderful when done well in the right context, with character and real 'soul'. Being a technically gifted singer with a 3 or 4 octave range does not automatically mean you are a great singer :banghead:

22 Nov 2005, 13:22

oh god... i just wrote this big long thing... here's the short version. my track list for an improved "get ready"

1.crystal 2.60 mph 3.someone like you 4.primitive notion 5.player in the league 6.here to stay 7.behind closed doors 8.rock the shack 9.run wild

my reasons were solid and sound...

ugh. the running order might change if i were to actually do this, but the tracks would stay the same.

i guess "rock the shack" deserves a bit of an explanation. i really like this track. it's got energy, it's loud, the guitars are nice... sure, the lyric's absolute crap, but this is new order... i'm also a big fan of primal scream... if bobby kind of fucks up, andrew innes is on target. also, this track kind of acts to hold the whole second half (starting with player in the league) together... it's a very diverse 25 minutes of tunes.

22 Nov 2005, 14:00

Include Behind Closed Doors, Here to Stay, Player in the League and Sabotage, and Get Ready becomes a very strong album.

22 Nov 2005, 14:22

ditch "Rock The Shack", add "Here To Stay" and "Brutal", and you have a good 11 track album.

22 Nov 2005, 14:27

If Slow Jam is removed, and nothing is added, the album is improved immensely.

22 Nov 2005, 14:46

Replace Slow Jam with Brutal, actually finish Close Range, change Run Wild to the Steve Osbourne mix, and make Here to Stay the closer and maybe we've got an album.

22 Nov 2005, 15:57

Of course, all easy to say 4 years later... :nod:

22 Nov 2005, 16:25

daithi wrote:

You obviously don't get the point of what I'm saying. I like New Order for many reasons, but one of them is the relaxed quality of Barney's vocals, of course he is not a technically skilled singer but at his best his voice has more genuine 'soul' than most technically gifted singers.

I could list off the many, many technically gifted singers I enjoy listening to but there's not much point in doing that now is there because the question is whether that style of singing works with New Order and I don't think it does. Soul singing can be wonderful when done well in the right context, with character and real 'soul'. Being a technically gifted singer with a 3 or 4 octave range does not automatically mean you are a great singer

You're evidently not very good at reading, are you? From the top!

She is technically more talented though. It's a matter of taste whether you like her style or not, but to say Barney is solely skill-wise a GREAT singer (he's good but not.. amazing) is silliness.

24 Nov 2005, 15:40

Patrick wrote: If Slow Jam is removed, and nothing is added, the album is improved immensely.

Agreed.